Current Students!!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
1

<p>I have some questions about life at Cornell :)</p>

<p>What can you do on campus? Are there things like art studios, gyms, museums? And are they free for full time students? Are there free concerts or other events (maybe like ones hosted my clubs?</p>

<p>What is there to do off campus? Resturants, shopping, sight seeing, parks, zoo? Are they expensive?</p>

<p>How big is your work load? Can you party every weekend? Are parties (frat) open to everyone? Do you have time to play soprts (intramural), be active in a few clubs, party, and maintain your grades?</p>

<p>Do teachers have office hours, and are they easy to talk to?</p>

<p>Do you need a car to get around?</p>

<p>Are people generally nice, and willing to help you? Is it super competitive academically?</p>

<p>And most importantly, do you like it at Cornell? What is your favorite thing about it?</p>

<p>THANK YOU!!!</p>

2

<p>there is plenty to do at cornell, so much that not everything is possible...</p>

<p>the most important thing you need to learn at cornell is time management...</p>

<p>and dont be afraid to give up some activities (non-essential) for those that are essential (office hours, studying)...</p>

3

<p>there are TONS of gyms on campus. i'm an athlete so i don't use them tooo much, i'm training in the big red facilities, but when i do, they are totally awesome. tvs, all of the amenities. they're very social too. good stuff.</p>

<p>the johnson museum of art is awesome and yes free for students. i'm on the board of that actually, we host tons of parties just to promote things like exhibits, visiting artists and student artists. those are all free too. so yea check that out. </p>

<p>i'm no concert goer, but i think that there are concerts like in and around ithaca that people go to (i'm far removed from music culture, so i totally wouldn't know). people do go to like rochester and buffalo and new york for concerts tho, i'm sure of that.</p>

<p>ok best restaurants----</p>

<p>expensive: john thomas, the heights (get the lava cake), madeline's, banfi's (the statler)
cheap/moderate: stella's, just a taste, diamond's indian, (this mexican place that i forgot the name of...), olivia's, lost dog cafe.</p>

<p>shopping: none in ithaca except for that tacky pyramid mall. only go there if you wear american eagle. wait. just don't wear american eagle. they do have a movie theatre there tho...but otherwise stay away. you don't even want to know what the "bon-ton" is....get used to shopping online. there are some outlet malls (with normal things like ferragamo and ralph lauren) within a few hours but those trips take a while...woodbury commons is like 3 hours away or so. but if you want, one weekend with friends you can go. and of course if you make a trip to new york...take advantage. oh actually there is a vintage store in the commons called petrune or something, they sell good stuff. but vintage.</p>

<p>ha i don't know about zoos....maybe go to the animal science building. God i wouldn't be caught dead there. lol</p>

<p>there are plenty of parks (robert treman being one) to go to with friends and stuff. not too far away. fun times.</p>

<p>it's all about time management. you need to be heavily involved to be social/respected but you cannot sacrifice your grades. you need to be greek, just don't be stupid about it. don't party all of the time and drink and get high. join and be involved but keep the partying down. or else your grades will suffer. and you should be involved in clubs and sports and things too. also for social purposes but for philanthropic ones too. and interest. you can be extremely heavily involved and still maintain high grades with hard courses, of course. time management. if you don't have time management, start out slow, extracurricularly speaking, and start practicing time management and then get more involved.</p>

<p>as far as parties. you can go to some without being greek, but just join an house. it's easy. and easiER to be social. again time management here too...you can maintain good grades and have fun. obviously.</p>

<p>teachers are easy enough to talk to, even the super famous ones. they're often very nice. get to know them, write them thank you notes and thank you e-mails, go to see them just to talk et cetera. trust me. do it. it's fun too, they become your friends. again, even the super famous ones.</p>

<p>cars are necessary but usually you'll know someone with one. if you can bring one DO IT. but you can get around without them too, of course. just going places with friends who have them and taking buses to pyramid mall (gasp!) and stuff. most things are on campus tho and you can effectively walk (in 20-25 min) to the commons so it's not terrible. but like forget about going to wegmans or other stores. a car is useful so if you can, bring one.</p>

<p>people are nice, not as cutthroat as people say. obviously there are plenty of fake, trashy people. but you'll find true friends. sometimes in the oddest places. sometimes in the most conventional.</p>

<p>personally, i love cornell. i travel a lot around the world and yet i always miss ithaca, as simple and podunk as it is. there's something special about it that when you're like walking on the quad in the middle of the night after just having written an awesome paper and you look over the valley and say "jeez this is breathtaking." i never want to leave. or grow up. but that's another story. i like the academics at cornell, i like the sports, i like the campus, i like the location (it's so far removed that ithaca IS cornell...this, i feel, is best for a college experience). i like the buildings, i like the traditions. blah blah. everything. what i don't like is some of the kids that are non-academic (cough...in certain majors....) like that are just pre-professional. this brings a different attitude to cornell in some places that detracts from the university environment that fosters learning for learning's sake. some people here aren't like that. whatever. just stay in your bubble and you'll be fine. </p>

<p>was that enough? ha</p>

4

<p>
[quote]
you need to be greek

[/quote]
</p>

<p>one of several annoying points you make :<</p>

5

<p>whatevs. obviously you don't NEED to be greek. but you understand what i'm talking about like being greek gives you a presence, a reputation. you can have one otherwise, yes, but perhaps it's harder? of course it doesn't define you, it's just something that adds to your credibility maybe. i'm not sure how to phrase it. i don't mean to insult someone who isn't in an house of course. by no means. probably the majority of my closest friends are NOT in houses, boys and girls both. so yea.</p>

<p>but um...several annoying points? sorry for contributing..jeez</p>

6

<p>i guess that i would just qualify my post by saying that this is a certain way to live at cornell. one can live another way, sure. but all i can offer is the way that i pass my time. this is all that anyone can offer; their own "personal" experience. sorry if mine isn't up to your standards but maybe it will help someone.</p>

7

<p>
[quote]
but you understand what i'm talking about like being greek gives you a presence, a reputation. you can have one otherwise, yes, but perhaps it's harder? of course it doesn't define you, it's just something that adds to your credibility maybe. i'm not sure how to phrase it.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Nothing could be further from the truth. There are so many different social circles at Cornell, and so many different students with different interests that reputations are built in many different ways. You can be that girl from the Whistling Shrimp or the guy who is always writing a column in the Sun or the guy who you always see climbing a tree in the Arts Quad. Facetime is facetime, whether you are in a fraternity or not.</p>

<p>Don't buy into this nonsense.</p>

<p>Also, sametwochords, is it possible for you to write a sentence without including the word 'like' in every other phrase?</p>

<p>That said, I agree with most of your other assessments -- on how wonderful a college experience Cornell/Ithaca is and how friendly/laid/unassuming back most of the student body is.</p>

8

<p>um i'm a fine writer...but this is a college blog site. why would i write as if i'm publishing something? i'll certainly send you some of my research papers if you want.</p>

<p>you know i remember why i stopped posting to college confidential. i'm gettin the hell outta here. just wanted to try to help. lataaaaa</p>

9

<p>
[quote]
why would i write as if i'm publishing something?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Because it makes it easier for others to read and understand what you are saying?</p>

<p>Because individuals develop reputations (even on discussion boards... this isn't a blog) and it might help your arguments if your paragraph-length written work was more grammatically sound?</p>

<p>Because you are a Cornell student who has hopefully read The Elements of Style?</p>

10

<p>um i carry a copy of the elements of style nearly everywhere i go. i have like 3 copies. no one even knows what that book is. </p>

<p>why would i care about a reputation on a discussion board?</p>

<p>more importantly, why do people attack other people on these boards? jeez like this is supposed to help students...woops there's another "like!" ha</p>

11

<p>does being in a sorority typically give girls a kind of slutty/snobby rep?
and im still pre-frosh, but i know that it is definitely possible to develop a rep without being greek. my mom wrote an editorial column in the Sun and it became very controversial. when she met people they would either fall over themselves praising her work and bravery to express certain views or tell her that she was a terrible person and never speak to her again.</p>

12

<p>Undoubtedly the greek system plays a very large role on campus. Most of your social (drinking) world will revolve around the greek system freshman year, whether you decide to go greek or not. However, it should also be known than 67% of the campus isn't greek. I find this hard to believe sometimes because I'm greek and a majority of my friends are as well. It should also be noted though that most people who hold the top leadership positions on campus are in greek houses. President and VP of student assembly, editor in chief of the cornell daily sun, ithaca city councilman, head of Into the Streets, head of the university assembly, many of the cornell ambassadors, head of the Orientation steering committee, Cornell Dean of Students (Kent Hubbell), Peter Meinig (FIJI) who is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees and who the Meinig Family Scholars is named after. Additionally, a large amount of people in Quill&Dagger and Sphinx Head are greek. I'm not saying that being greek should define you but rather what you do on campus should. It just so happens that many of the campus leaders are greek</p>

<p>However, like I said, greeks only represent 1/3 of the students at cornell. There is so much going on campus that doesn't involve around the greek system. Although being greek makes the campus feel a lot smaller, it is definitely not the end-all-be-all. There are a ton of things I hate about the greek system trust me. I have a ton of friends who aren't in the greek system who party harder and are involved in a ton of top leadership positions on campus. I actually wish I would've attended more non-greek parties during my junior year, I really do. Essentially, just find your niche on campus. Greek or non-greek it really doesn't matter because Cornell is an amazing place.</p>

13

<p>
[quote]
no one even knows what that book is.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>It's a great book. Written by some Cornellians. I had thought that it was assigned to all freshmen in the writing seminars, but if not, I suggest you read it.</p>

<p>
[quote]
more importantly, why do people attack other people on these boards? jeez like this is supposed to help students...

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I wasn't making a personal attack, just a simple recommendation. You made a lot of great points in your original post, which was unfortunately bogged down by some unfortunate word choices. I have no idea how "like" ever entered the American lexicon, but any student aspiring for a professional career would be advised to chase it out of use pretty quickly.</p>

<p>
[quote]
It just so happens that many of the campus leaders are greek

[/quote]
</p>

<p>In certain circles, this is true. But it changes a lot from year to year and class to class. When I was at Cornell, not one EIC of the Sun was Greek. </p>

<p>The bottom line is that Greek life is a good social/residential option for some students and not the best thing since sliced bread for others. I personally think it also highly unfortunate that the Greek system controls the underage party scene at Cornell for freshmen and sophomores, something which can only really be fixed by a lower drinking age.</p>

14

<p>as far as the frat parties go:
-first semester: lots and lots of open parties with some closed mixers
-second semester: basically all closed mixers with a few open parties (frat pledge parties)</p>

<p>cornell hosts a lot of concerts. just this year, i went to young joc, tpain, oar, and (of course) slope day. most of the "real stadium concerts" are grouped as being in "upstate ny" on ticketmaster....and those concerts are usually in syracuse or rochester</p>

15

<p>a good number of the mixers first semester tend to be pregaming mixers...open parties dominate first semester</p>

<p>you freshman are going to have funnnnn :)</p>

16

<p>Maybe being involved in the Greek System and having high leadership positions on on-campus groups are slight correlated? It makes some sense to me that because Greeks tend to be outgoing socialites that they exude the confidence that would make them fit for having leadership roles.</p>

17

<p>There's the analytical rigor that Cornell students should possess!</p>

<p>You really need to control for some sort of 'social leadership quotient' across Greek and independent students in order to make any reasonable comparisons.</p>

<p>Of course, one may argue that being in the Greek system helps to build said quotient, to which I would counter that many different activities on campus are equally as adept at fostering a student's leadership potential.</p>

18

<p>Haha, yeah, I was just making a generalization. I haven't even stepped foot on the campus yet so who knows if theres some truth to the validity of my assessment.</p>

19

<p>I had no intention of going Greek until I found out that the leaders of organizations I was involved in and the TAs for classes I was taking were in houses. This made me realize that at Cornell, the Greek system isn't the same as the Greek systems in state schools.</p>

20

<p>cayugared: obviously you can't read because i said in that very same post that i own 3 copies and carry it everywhere. i always refer to it.</p>